If you're a true-blue fan of Springfield hockey in particular and the American Hockey League in general, you might remember the Quebec City Citadelles.

Michael Ryder certainly remembers them. This hot-handed playoff scorer for the Boston Bruins spent the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons playing for the Citadelles, a franchise that existed for four seasons when the AHL had a Canadian Division.

Ryder played on a first-place team in the 2001-02 season. He spent the next one with the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs before making his way into The Show - otherwise known as the National Hockey League.

Ryder has company on that Bruins roster. Of the 24 players who dressed for Boston's four-game knockout of the proud but outgunned Montreal Canadiens, 17 got there through the AHL.

Five of them skated for the Providence Bruins against the Springfield Falcons at the MassMutual Center. You can make that six if you count Phil Kessel, who had a brief spin with the P-Bruins while on a conditioning assignment in 2007.

The other current Bruins who wore Providence colors: Patrice Bergeron, Byron Bitz, David Krejci, Mark Stuart and goaltender Tim Thomas (35 games in 2002-03, 43 games in 2003-04).

Four other Bruins skated for other Springfield rivals in the Atlantic Division. Chuck Kobasew and Zdeno Chara played for Lowell, Marc Savard for Hartford, Shawn Thornton for Portland. That was 10 years ago for Chara, who also spent AHL time with the Kentucky Thoroughblades (remember them?).

Stephane Yelle, one of Boston's alternate captains, goes way back with the AHL. He played for another since-departed Canadian entry, the Cornwall Aces, in 1994-95.

Boston defensemen Aaron Ward and Shane Hnidy played for the Adirondack Red Wings of the '90s, at a time when they were rivals of the Springfield Indians, and then the Falcons.

THE CALDER CONNECTION: One of the great names in hockey history, Frank Calder, is memorialized in both the NHL and AHL.

Calder served as the NHL's first president. In the mid-1930s, he was instrumental in the formation of the AHL. The league opened in October of 1936 with eight members: Springfield, Philadelphia, Providence and New Haven in the East Division; Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo in the West.

The AHL named its championship cup in honor of Calder. During his reign as NHL president, Calder instituted a rookie of the year award. It was given his name after he left office.

The 2008-09 Calder Trophy has three nominees: Goaltender Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets, forward Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks, and forward Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Again, an AHL connection here.

Mason opened this season with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch, but was around for only three games. He got a call to Columbus Nov. 5, and never looked back. Mason had an outstanding year, highlighted by 10 shutouts and a 2.29 goals-against average. That's second in the NHL to Thomas' 2.10 for the Bruins.

Ryan started the season with the Iowa Chops, got promoted after 14 games and went on to lead NHL rookies with 31 goals (in 64 games).

Versteeg played for Providence, Norfolk and Rockford of the AHL before making the NHL with the Blackhawks.

THAT GUY GREISS: The Falcons and their fans certainly saw enough of Worcester Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss during the regular season. He beat the Springfield club eight times.

The Falcons never got shut out by him, though. As UMass grad, Bill Ballou of the Worcester Telegram, points out, Greiss played 140 games in a Sharks uniform before posting his first shutout - on the last day of the regular season.

Now look at him. In Worcester's first-round playoff series with Hartford, he had another one.

Greiss and the Sharks pulled a shocker Wednesday night when they rolled over the Atlantic Division champion Wolf Pack, scoring five times in the third period for a 6-0 victory.

Also shocking was the attendance total of 1,911 at Worcester's DCU Center.

The AHL basically operates as a weekend league. The Worcester game proved that, even at playoff time, the AHL isn't going to be a big draw in mid-week games at some arenas.

CHASING THE PUCK: Jason Chaimovitch of the AHL office reports that 256 of the 330 players now involved in the NHL playoffs are AHL graduates (77.6 per cent) ... Worcester beat Hartford in double-overtime Monday night, getting the game-winner from former Falcons player Ryan Vesce. That marked his fifth overtime winner this season. He had two of them against the Falcons ... Versteeg, the rookie of the year candidate, had the pleasure of scoring a goal in the Winter Classic, played Jan. 1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The next one will be at Fenway Park, so they say, matching the Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers. Nothing official there yet ... Looks like the last year for the AHL in Philly. The Phantoms will be moving. Where? Glens Falls, N.Y., is said to be a candidate.